Is Eating Eggs Really Just As Bad As Smoking Cigarettes? A Deeper Look At The Claim Made By Vegan Activists

Science, and in particular health science, has entered a new era. Since the emergence of powerful corporations who put profit before all else, science has, as the editor-in-chief of the Lancet stated a few years ago, “taken a turn towards darkness.” This has been the topic of discussion among many health professionals and scientists throughout the years, and numerous publications have also emerged showing the need for immediate attention, but it’s still something that has yet to be discussed or even publicized as it should within the mainstream. You can read more about that in an article we published regarding “peer-reviewed” science, and what that really means today, here.

As a result, debates regarding various aspects that surround our human experience have emerged in abundance, and one of the most sensitive areas deals with our food — what we eat, how we eat it, and if what we’ve been taught for the past few decades is actually accurate. Given historical trends, it’s probably not, as the only constant of human knowledge and learning is that it changes and adapts all the time. Could the health benefits of eggs fit into the same category?

Recent studies over the past few years have been giving vegetarianism as well as veganism more credibility in the eyes of mainstream science. As Harvard Medical School recognizes, “Studies are confirming the health benefits of meat-free eating. Nowadays, plant-based eating is recognized as not only nutritionally sufficient but also as a way to reduce the risk for many chronic illnesses.”

The plethora of data that’s emerged has also justified the use of these findings in a clinical setting, and many doctors are now urging their patients to adopt a plant-based diet to treat and avoid several diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.

Take for example Michelle McMacken, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine and the Director of the Bellevue Hospital Weight Management Clinic. She reveals the grim reality of trying to treat disease without addressing diet:

Day in and day out, I treated symptoms and blood test results related to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver, osteoarthritis, and peripheral vascular disease — but I rarely got to the common root of these conditions. My approach was usually reactive rather than proactive. My patients didn’t get much better – the best I felt I could hope for was that their disease state was ‘managed’ and didn’t get worse.

“Like most physicians,” she continues, she “had little to no nutrition instruction during [her] training, and [she] felt ill equipped to counsel” her patients with regard to their food.

But she did her research, attended conferences with like-minded practitioners, and has since seen an enormous change:

The results have been nothing short of tremendous, both for my patients and for me personally. No longer do I automatically reach for the prescription pad when I see a patient with diabetes and high cholesterol. . . . In just a short time, I’ve seen many patients avoid or decrease medications, prevent diabetes, lose weight, and reduce their cardiovascular risk by moving towards or fully adopting a plant-based diet.

Another example is Kim A. Williams, M.D., the former President of the American College of Cardiology who also adopted a vegan diet. He often sees patients who are overweight and struggling with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. One of the things he advises them to do specifically is to go vegan. He is also the Chairman of Cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. His enthusiasm for a planet-based diet comes from his interpretation of medical literature, having investigated several studies proving that people who pursue vegetarian diets live longer than meat eaters and have lower rates of death from heart disease, diabetes, and kidney problems.

The list of studies and practitioners is long, so if you’re of the belief that a vegan or vegetarian diet is or can be harmful, the truth of the matter is, there is no scientific basis to support it. As far as what humans are “meant” to eat, that’s also a major debate within the scientific community, yet we are presented with one perspective from a young age, and proponents of the evolution theory also seem to use that argument quite a bit. An article by Rob Dunn written for Scientific American titled “Human Ancestors Were Nearly All Vegetarians” explores this issue from an evolutionary perspective, revealing how our guts might be evolved to perform best on a vegetarian diet. This perspective also complements all of the science that is emerging today.

The fact is, people go plant based for a number of reasons. These include losing weight, reducing their risk of heart disease, decreasing the number of pills they have to take, increasing their energy levels, and more. There are several reasons, and if you’re curious, here are nine things that happen when you stop eating meat.

What About Eggs? Can They Really Be Compared to Cigarettes?

According to the perspectives presented above, eggs would fit into the same category. They have been promoted as both healthy and unhealthy at various stages, so perhaps moderation is the best answer? It’s difficult to say, particularly when you have multiple studies condemning the consumption of eggs, linking them to cancer and heart disease, and others praising the consumption of eggs, showing complete opposite results.

For example, a study published in 2011 found that daily consumption of cholesterol appeared to cut a woman’s life short as much as smoking 25 thousand cigarettes, or 5 cigarettes a day for 15 years.

Following up on their research a year later, a study published in the Journal of Atherosclerosis Research found that regular egg consumption could put your health at grave risk. Canadian researchers examined 1,231 patients with an average age of 62. They used ultrasound measurements of the carotid arteries to establish the presence and quantity of atherosclerotic plaque. Smoking was measured in “pack-years” and egg yolk consumption in “egg yolk-years.” The researchers discovered that eating one egg per day was just as bad for your heart as smoking five cigarettes per day.

A single large egg contains more than 180 mg of cholesterol, and the average American consumes almost five eggs per week, which suggests they are serious contributing factors to the number one killer in the U.S., heart disease.

A meta-analysis of 17 different studies showed that dietary cholesterol increases the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol, which implies that the favourable rise in HDL eggs create fails to compensate for the adverse rise in total and LDL cholesterol. Therefore, increased intake of dietary cholesterol from eggs may indeed raise the risk of coronary heart disease.

On the other side of the coin, there are studies showing that additional nutrients found within eggs could could actually help lower the risk of heart disease. Just as Harvard Medical School puts out information regarding the benefits of vegan/vegetarian diets, they also point to the fact that, when it comes to eggs, “Research on moderate egg consumption in two large prospective cohort studies (nearly 40,000 men and over 80,000 women) found that up to one egg per day is not associated with increased heart disease risk in healthy individuals.”

They also note that eggs were “previously associated with heart disease risk as a result of their high cholesterol content. However, a solid body of research shows that for most people, cholesterol in food has a smaller effect on blood levels of total cholesterol and harmful LDL cholesterol than does the mix of fats in the diet.”

However, despite pointing to these facts, they are also quick to mention a 2008 report which argues that eating one egg per day is generally safe for the heart, meaning it might not be, and that going beyond that could actually increase the risk of heart failure later in life. They also note the increased dangers for certain members of the population:

People who have difficulty controlling their total and LDL cholesterol may also want to be cautious about eating egg yolks and instead choose foods made with egg whites. The same is true for people with diabetes. In studies including the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, heart disease risk was increased among men and women with diabetes who ate one or more eggs a day. For people who have diabetes and heart disease, it may be best to limit egg consumption to no more than three yolks per week.

We could go into an entirely separate debate here regarding cholesterol, the different types, and the controversy that surrounds it as well, but the issue is complex enough that it requires its own article.

Harvard also mentions that eggs are probably “not the optimal breakfast choice” but that they are “certainly not the worst, falling somewhere in the middle on the spectrum food choice and heart disease risk.” They still conclude with, “for those looking to eat a healthy diet, keeping intake of eggs moderate to low will be best for most, emphasizing plant-based protein options when possible.”

So, as you can see, even on the “pro-egg” side, if you want to call it that, of the scientific debate, precaution is still emphasized. This is something hard to ignore.

Vegan proponents also point to the many studies now emerging examining protein from animal sources compared to protein from plant-based sources.

According to Jim Morris, one of many competitive vegan bodybuilders, who has been vegan for most of his life, “The protein in animal products is filled with fats and chemicals and all sorts of stuff that’s harmful to you.”

A more recent study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital followed more than 130,000 people for 36 years, monitoring illnesses, lifestyles, diets, and mortality rates.

They found that substituting between 15g and 19g of animal protein, the equivalent of a single sausage, for legumes, pulses, nuts, and other planet protein, significantly decreased the risk of early death. Replacing eggs with plant-based protein also led to a 19% reduction in death risk.

Researchers found that a 10% higher intake of meat was associated with a 2% higher mortality rate and an 8% higher chance of cardiovascular death.

According to Dr. T. Colin Campbell, known for his work on the “China Study“:

What I did during the early part of my career was nothing more than what traditional science would suggest. I made the observation that diets presumably higher in animal protein were associated with liver cancer in the Philippines. When coupled with the extraordinary report from India showing that casein fed to experimental rats at the usual levels of intake dramatically promoted liver cancer, it prompted my 27-year-long study The China Project, of how this effect worked. We did dozens of experiments to see if this was true and, further, how it worked.

The study also showed that animal protein is very acidic, forcing the body to leach calcium and phosphorus from the bones to neutralize the acidity.

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Other Factors to Consider, Beyond Science

Scientific fraud is another important issue to consider. While there is some science showing that certain nutrients found within eggs are healthy, that doesn’t take away from the fact that consumption of eggs is doing other things in the body, too. It reminds me of blood pressure pills, for example. Yes, they reduce blood pressure, but they also create a cascade of other negative health effects, much like statins for heart problems do.

Today, if studies are funded by big food corporations, and many of them are, we’re most likely looking at advertising rather than actual science. This is why it’s so important to consider the unbiased studies that are emerging every day that entirely contradict government nutritional guidelines.

When it comes to uncovering fraud, as linked just above, there are multiple examples. When it comes to the egg industry specifically, Dr. Michael Greger is the one to consult. He’s an American physician, author, and professional speaker on health issues. He used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to uncover how public perception can be manipulated so that food corporations profit. Take a look.

How Eggs Are Mass Produced

Another thing to consider is animal cruelty. While there are some humane egg farmers, when it comes to the eggs we most commonly find in fast food restaurants and grocery stores, this is the harsh reality.

The following video by activist Erin Janus perfectly depicts what’s wrong with the way eggs are mass produced.

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